Central vacuum systems are known and are used quite successfully as efficient cleaning tools for indoor spaces. Consequently such systems are becoming more popular with consumers and they have been installed in many homes and buildings especially in North America. Typically a central vacuum system includes a remote vacuum motor with a large debris or dust collecting receptacle which can be periodically dismounted and emptied. The vacuum motor and receptacle are typically located in a garage, basement or other remote location where the noise of the vacuum motor will not be too disturbing. A network of suction carrying pipes is connected to the suction side of the vacuum motor and the piping network extends through the walls or floors of the building to various rooms in the house or building. Attached at the ends of the pipes is a mounting plate which is typically affixed to a stud and located behind the drywall. A wall valve, mounted on the front of the drywall completes the inlet assembly. Typically an extension of the wall valve is inserted into the mounting plate, creating a sealed vacuum connection. The wall valve usually includes a hinged door that can be opened to allow access to a suction opening into which a user can insert a hose cuff to connect a vacuum hose to the vacuum system. The inlet valves allow a flexible hose to be temporarily connected to the piping network and thus provide a cleaner access to the suction through the inlet valve. To use the vacuum system, a user takes the flexible vacuum hose, having an insertion cuff on one end and a suction wand at the other end, and lifts open a flap door and plugs an insertion cuff end of the flexible hose into the central vacuum inlet valve. This may complete a low voltage circuit, which turns on the remote central vacuum motor creating suction first through the pipe network and then through the flexible hose and wand. The wand may then be applied to dust and debris within reach of the hose to remove the same from the indoor space. To preserve the suction power at any inlet valve that is in use, the other inlet valves must remain sealed. So the flap doors are usually provided with a flexible or foam seal so that they are closed to air flow when in the closed position. A spring may also be used to help keep the flap door in an air sealing position.
Other vacuum devices are also known and used including canister vacuums, which are dragged from room to room and which also include a flexible hose with a wand for use in local dust and debris removal. Also known are small handheld units for removing a small amount of debris from a specific area, such as crumbs or the like from kitchen counters which simply use a nozzle on the end of a solid or rigid body having an incorporated dirt receiving receptacle for debris collection. Such hand held units are convenient when a small cleaning task is at hand and it is too awkward to get out the large and often cumbersome hose. In such canister and handheld units typically any on-board dust receptacle is made removable so that when it is filled by the suction created in the device it may be removed and emptied. In the hand held device the suction may be created by a small onboard vacuum motor powered for example by an onboard rechargeable battery.
These hand held devices typically include a handle suitable to be gripped by one hand and have a trigger switch associated with the handle to start or stop the vacuum motor. While these handheld devices are convenient to use the debris chamber is, by necessity small and must be emptied frequently. Emptying the debris chamber typically involves detaching a dirt collecting receptacle from the device.
The small sized removable receptacle is not the best solution. In the first place it can be awkward to use, as it must be detached, transported to a larger garbage disposal device and then dumped upside down and shaken to be emptied. Usually the filter material is on the main part of the unit and when the receptacle is removed dirt and debris have a tendency to fall off the filter material which is awkward and annoying. As well there is a risk of fine dust being liberated from the open receptacle as it is being carried about and emptied, as well as a risk of spilling the contents.
An easier way to remove the dust and debris collected in the receptacle of the hand held unit is desired which does not permit the dust or debris to be potentially accidentally liberated as it is being emptied from the container in the very space from which it has just been removed. As well, there is no reliable way to determine how full the receptacle is, apart from shaking the unit to see if it makes noise and so there is a tendency not to empty the removable receptacle every time the hand held device is used. In a case where wet or organic material is sucked into the receptacle there is a risk that the dirt or debris will sit for a long enough period of time to become consolidated, plugged or even malodorous. Therefore it is also desirable to develop a device where such a chain of events can be avoided and the removable dirt receiving receptacle can be reliably and easily kept free of dirt and debris.
These prior art hand held vacuum devices often come with an associated holder which can be mounted to a wall or left lying on a countertop for example. The holder may include an electrical plug connector to connect the holder to an adjacent conventional electrical receptacle. Suitable electrical contacts are included in the handheld unit and the holder to permit the holder to be electrically connected to the vacuum unit when they are combined. In this way, the rechargeable batteries in the handheld vacuum can be recharged when the device is placed in the holder. However, the holder can be awkward and take up space. It must be located adjacent to an outlet and specially mounted to the wall or take up counter space. A more streamlined and efficient design would be preferred, where the hand held unit could still be reliably recharged.
What is desired is a convenient way to store and empty such small handheld vacuum suction units.